Tossing the Consumer Under the Bus...And insanely expecting an economic recovery

I’ve been pouring through the Fed Reserve’s recent release of circa
2005 FOMC meeting transcripts. The most striking observation that one
can make is that the consumer - the very lifeblood that determines
whether our economy will live or die - has been discarded.

Discarded --- as in tossed under the bus.

Ninety-nine
percent of our “economists” today have it entirely ass backwards: They
believe that the economy supports the consumer. In reality, it really
is the other way around. Proof: You can put two or more consumers
together and create an economy but remove the consumers from an economy
and you are left with nothing.

“Jobless recoveries” are Cable News media spin.

The following excerpts will leave you thinking that you are watching some bizarro episode of the “Twilight Zone.”

Toss the consumer under the housing wheel of the bus and laugh about it:

"–I offer one more piece of evidence that I think almost surely suggests that the end is near in this sector. While channel surfing the other night, to the annoyance of my otherwise very patient wife, I came across a new television series on the Discovery Channel entitled “Flip That House.”[Laughter]
As far as I could tell, the gist of the show was that with some
spackling, a few strategically placed azaleas, and access to a bank, you
too could tap into the great real estate wealth machine. It was enough
to put even the most ardent believer in market efficiency into
existential crisis. [Laughter]~David Stockton, Dec. 13, 2005, economist and Fed comedian.

So
while publicly denying the existence or even the possibility of a
housing bubble --- the Fed was privately laughing about its imminent and
apocalyptic end. Jokes on us. The result of this meltdown is 22%
unemployment, 43 million people on Food Stamps, 1 in 5 kids going to bed
hungry at night, millions of homeless people resulting from
foreclosures, millions of Americans watching as their largest investment
(their home) tanks, local governments who rely on property taxes left struggling and a few failed bond auctions away from shutting down or being “bailed out”.

The
other day I saw Alan Greenspan say ‘Prove it’ (that he created the
housing meltdown). The reporter gave him a free pass, all he had to do
is ask Greenspan who created the years of cheap money, who muzzled Brookley Born
(the CFTC Commissioner who wanted to regulate Derivatives) and who
helped get rid of the Glass Steagall Act with a 3-2 Fed vote, and who
failed to regulate the banks.

They knew, from the September 20, 2005 meeting:

“I’ll
close with one other thing, the central banker’s anxiety, which is:
“Good times are bad because they could turn out to be bad. Bad times are
bad for obvious reasons.” [Laughter] I think you’ve given us a lesson in why these extremely good times are unlikely to be good for us in the long run.~ Ferguson.

Toss the consumer under the deficit wheel of the bus and laugh about it:

“Tell
me, Sam, is there really any difference between Republicans and
Democrats when it comes to spending?” And Cohen said, “I want to think
about it, do some research, and give you a serious answer.” He called
back the next morning and said, “Yes, George, there is. Democrats enjoy
it more.” [Laughter] “But otherwise there doesn’t appear to be any difference.”~Fisher.

As ZeroHedge pointed out, “...that ratio is already roughly 1 to 2, meaning for every dollar in revenue the US government issues more than one dollar of debt just to fund the deficit.”

While our public debt is about 14 trillion our unfunded liabilities are much larger.

Perhaps the simplest way to look at it is this: 55%-65% of our income goes to taxes
and fees, we work 8.5 months of the year to pay for this insane mess.
The consumer has then 3.5 months of income with circa 1970s wages to
consume.

How anyone can joke about being the enabler, the debt
pusher to a body of almost 535 fiscally insane debt binging lunatics
when their kids are going to be going through debt detox hell is
anything but something to laugh at. (Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Paul Ryan and
a few fiscally responsible leaders excluded). If the Fed wasn’t
monetizing debt the US would be where it should be - in bankruptcy
reorganization.

Overdosing the user only tosses the consumer under the bus, for it is the consumer who pays this tab 8.5 months of the year.

Rob the consumer and then toss them under the currency tire and laugh about it:

“Absent a dollar depreciation that’s now probably on the order of 8, 9, or 10 percent,
the deficit is going to steadily worsen. If the dollar were to start
depreciating, that would slow the rate of deterioration. If the dollar
depreciation that we put into the forecast were to get as high as 8 or 9
percent, that might plateau the deficit”.~Johnson

“One thing we can be sure of is that the value of the dollar will be worth 100 cents.” [Laughter]~Greenspan

There was also discussion where Bernanke talks about a chart showing the dollar depreciating by 10% per year.

All
of this is insane robbery. Since the inception of the Fed our dollar
has been robbed 96% of its purchasing power, 80% since Nixon declared
force majeure in 1971 and took us off the quasi-gold standard. Wages
have been flat since the 1970s, the consumer is saddled with 8.5 months
of governmental debt, to steal 10% per year from the .04 cents he calls a
dollar won’t make him/her a strong consumer.

Think about that
the next time you hand over a dollar, look at that dollar and picture
.04 cents, next year it’ll be closer to .03 cents. Or worse.

They
can only toss people under the bus like this because most people don’t
understand why prices go up. If money was grain they’d
(consumers/people) would get this the first year they transitioned from a
drought where their grain was in high demand to a year there was a
bumper crop and no one wanted the stuff.

Rob the consumer of good wages then toss them under the globalization tire and laugh about it:

“Everyone
I’ve talked to continues to try to figure out ways to exploit
globalization. Each of them, from the IT [information technology] guys
to the big box retailers to the specialty chemical firms to the service
firms, wants to have offshore supply. One of the CEOs said, “We have a
long way to go in exploiting China.” We’ve heard that forever. And one
of my favorites was the comment, “China, India, and Indonesia can make
Italian ceramics better than Italians can now or could 200 years ago.” [Laughter]

Globalization
was an unmitigated disaster. Low wages, high oil prices and trade
deficits all resulted from Globalization. China runs a surplus because
it sells more stuff it makes than it consumes. The year Globalization
kicked into high gear was the last year we saw a surplus. Now we
borrow. We can’t borrow our way to prosperity, we just borrowed our way
to insolvency. We can’t compete against someone making 2 dollars a
day. We can’t expect low oil prices when we just sent our best jobs to
China so they can afford more cars. China now sells more cars than the
US does, as a result, Asia now imports more oil than we do.

The wheels are coming off the economic bus and the drivers are laughing at us as we get tossed under it and run down.

Sad.

The
solution is simple, we are broke since we take in with taxes and
borrowing less then we owe. Our deficit alone ensures default or
Quantitative Easing from now until the wheels come entirely off.

It is time we reissue the currency, tie it temporarily and loosely to gold, get our manufacturing jobs back and move on.

"Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities." Even the dumbest, laziest, CNN-watching American knows what that means, but what, exactly, IS the relationship here, and why IS the Director of Research at the FED more associated with "illegal" Ponzi schemes than the FED itself? - Don't answer that! I tinks me knows!

Then again, "What Is, is?" ~ Bill Clinton, former President of the US.

David J. Stockton still has a nice photo proudly posted on the FED's website with his phone and email (http://www.federalreserve.gov/research/staff/stocktondavex.htm), so I don't know what the dotted line is for on muckety.com showing that he is supposedly no longer affiliated with the FED. Do you know David? Time for an audit of the FED? Time to END THE FED? Time for:

The Ron Paul R Ξ √ Ω L U T ↑O N ~ 2012?

This dumb Neanderthal American living off debt thinks so, and so do my bankrupt friends and neighbors! I'm certainly not accusing anyone of any wrong doing (but the FED, Herbert Hoover, Col. Edward M. House, Bernie Madoff, Adolph Hitler, Karl Marx, Nathan M. Rothchild, Satan, et al). Just asking questions - what every patriotic American seems to be doing more and more these days.

Here's a suggested answer: "The FED is committed to reducing unemployment and stabilizing prices." Thanks for playing (laughter).

Bottom line: Either the US slaps tariffs on all imports that threaten american jobs, or face the consequences. No if's, no buts. Then have a very painful re-adjustment/transition, (better then the alternative that is bearing down at breaknet speed), get rid of the FED, take back the printing presses. Without consumers with decent coin in their pocket(read, no 3 hours a week at Walmart being counted as a "job") there will be no recovery, EVER.

We have a customer that has a new medical product that they want to sell in China. In order to get license to import or sell in China, they need to give every detail, down to circuit board artwork and mechanical drawings, to the government. I told them they were crazy to do this (after 10 years of R&D), and that clones would be on the market before their first container of good made it across the ocean. They replied that their investors think they need the "China market" to make revenue targets.

Free trade my ass. The US needs to speed up patent issuance, refuse to import counterfeit or infringing goods, or tariffs mean nothing.

The Soviets/Russians have excelled at missile technology, particularly anti-ship weapon systems. Western naval forces have no known defence against Moskit/Yakhont anti-ship missiles. This class of missile is one of the primary reasons why the US/Israel has not attacked Iran yet. The Iranians are armed to the teeth with SS-N-22 Sunburn (Moskit), and quite possibly the SS-N-25 Onyx (Yakhont Chinese variant).

They have the same crap Syria has. The same crap that was guarding the Syrian agriculture outpost in the middle of a desert where that well known industrial giant, North Korea, was exporting "dry cement" to.

The missile batteries were vaporized...by air.

And, by the way, "agriculture samples" were taken by soldiers flown in via choppers.

The good ol CCC, stands for China Compulsory Certification. The china industrial mark of the beast. It's for SAFETY, lol, more like financial safety of china. You must disclose everything about your product in order to do business in China. You give up all your R&D. They get it for FREE! Businesses give it to them for free every single day. Well played.

The same trade rules are used throughout the mercantilist nations of Asia. They will never trade fairly. They believe in "managed trade". The concept of "Free Trade", like "free sex", should have faded away in the 60s.

Blah blah blah. This is such a broken record. In the last 4 years I myself have heard this countless times. Is or has anything been done? No. The politicians, the establishment is NOT going to do what is in the best interest of the American Consumer. It is beyond obvious now. Yet also, parallel to this, the US consumer is not doing anything for him/herself either. Accept talking, blogging (more talking), and talking some more. That is it.

Millions of pensioners and risk-averse savers in fixed interest deposits will be the biggest victims of government-sponsored inflation that amounts to a slow-motion bank robbery.

Now the real value of money – or its purchasing power – is falling at 4.8 per cent, according to the Retail Prices Index (RPI), basic rate taxpayers need a gross return of at least 6 per cent from bank or building society deposits for the net value of their savings to stand still. High earners, paying tax at 40 per cent, need a gross return of 8 per cent to match inflation as measured by RPI. Needless to say, no such risk-free returns are available; other than on ‘teaser accounts’ with strings attached and where only trivial sums can be deposited.

Even on the government’s favoured measure of inflation – the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) at 3.7 per cent, soon to be used for public sector and State pensions – most savers need a gross return of more than 4.6 per cent to match inflation, while high earners need more than 6.1 per cent. While 22 bank accounts, including 19 individual savings accounts (ISAs), can deliver real returns to basic rate taxpayers, according to independent statisticians Moneyfacts.co.uk , savers with £10,000 in the average bank account have seen the real value of their money fall by nearly £500 since January, 2008.

Louise Holmes, spokesperson for Moneyfacts.co.uk, said: “Savers who have been struggling for many months to achieve a competitive return on their funds will be severely disappointed by yet another rise in inflation.

“Over recent weeks some providers have raised easy access rates, but they are still too low to battle the effects of inflation. “Typically, cash ISAs and longer term fixed rate bonds tend to offer the best rates for savers trying to beat inflation. However, with interest rates predicted to rise by the end of the year, many investors are reluctant to lock funds away for a long period of time.”

Yup !! that's what I've been trying to tell my best friend. She simply does not believe that the U.S. $$$ is going to be inflated away & that all the money she saved for her retirement in her savings account will be virtually worthless. I tried to explain to her (over 200 times) that if she does not take some of her money out of the bank & buy metal that she will find herself poverty-ridden . Either she doesn't understand the concept or she's in that "normalcy bias." I tried to tell her that the U.S. Government & criminal banking system is going to steal her credits in the bank account (money) that she has saved for over 40 years & SHE DOESN'T BELIEVE ME !! ..........

It's o.k. lynnybee, this is the U.K. inflation problem - not the USA, we will not see inflation like this uncle ben shalom is very smart and would not let that happen. He can raise rates in " 15 minutes ".

Tell your friend to buy the fucking dip in Bank of America before Friday and ride that pig for 50% until 2012.

I agree with you, at least until your last point.. Unfortunately the game is not up (yet).

I think realistically the biggest unknown is going to be the budget. The cynical side is me says that politics are usual will happen, but if this group of new people hold strong to their convictions, I think we have a chance to finally see this thing come apart fast. No doubt it will be extremely painful, but hopefully from there we can starting building a sustainable system again...

I've heard you mention a couple of times that no one believes you and they are all abandoning you. Why do you try to explain something to someone 200 times? It's their life. Let them live it. They will prepare or not prepare according to their own desires. No one wants to be around a broken record.

As I understand it, one of the key principles of Buddhism is to not judge another's path to Enlightenment.

For me, I'm preparing. It makes me feel safer and calmer. I do not concern myself with the preparations of others. I do not know what will happen. I am not certain. Only preparing.

i get the treatment too. lately i only get strange looks from my wife as she sees my predictions come true. i get my predictions from ZH and bill buckler and others and i forward articles like this one.

i'm not a doom and gloomer, but when 2+2 = 4 then whats to do but prepare.

Interesting that SS is always described as a liability, as it is in accounting terms. What this flies over, however, is the fact that the SS Trust holds over $2T in Treasury debt that is twice what China holds. Nobody is suggesting we default on debt to China, however. The SS holdings were bought and paid for, just as other treasuries are. What makes the common US citizen so special that he/she should swallow a default limited to only SS held securities?

Of course, there's also the simple question of what time frame this $14T figure applies to--as a simple pay as you go system, current assets and continuing contributions are set to cover payments for, what, another 20 years? What does $14T relate to--a 30 year period?

They spent the money on other shit, now the promised social security benefits exceed projected revenues. Ponzi 101, there is no social security "Lock Box"! My left pocket has an iou from my right pocket, now i'm balanced!

Because it isn't really an employee/employer funded plan. The link between your 'contributions' and any benefit was broken by a Supreme Court decision some time back. Somebody sued because his SS benefits were cancelled (convicted as a communist), and the decision was that FICA was a tax, and SS was a government benefit that could be changed at anytime. You have no legal right to any SS payment, only what the government deigns to give you.

Therefore, it is a liability to pay...which, of course, they ain't got.

Fiscally sane people have been arguing this point for decades...(me being one) we were called quacks...kooks...the societal fringe...possibly very dangerous people in fact...people to be given a wide berth they said...LOL.

Great post...and inflation leads to higher taxes....one gets to pay "capital agins taxes" on a fiction.

Little wonder silver coins are quite popular...one way to escape this immoral tax on inflation caused by the government itself. Guns and ammo are another good store of wealth....they are easily traded and just keep going up....I have never bought a gun in over 40 years that went down in value....most of the common folk ahve figured this out...you know, the farmers and workers in the U.S.

I assume you by American guns, (Bushmaster, Smith&Wesson, Colt, Remington, Weatherby, Springfield Armory, Savage (part Canadian), Ruger, Para Ordnance, Olympic Arms, Moss-berg, High Standard, Marlin, North American Arms, Winchester). In a pinch I could sell all of my guns for what I paid for them, most could sell for 10 % to 40 % more than paid.

The corporates are truly global. They really have no allegiance to any nation states or nationality (nor are they supposed to...their charter is to their shareholders). The role of these corporations is to maximize profit and minimize risk. Nowhere in there is there any goal to build an economy or make their host nation stronger. We have allowed these companies to become truly global actors who can play nation off against nation, state vs. state, city vs. city for the lowest tax rates, best land use zoning, highest profits. Lowest labor, lowest export/import taxes, stable "goverment".

If you wanted to change the game then there could be a "pay for play" fee in America. If you want to sell product here, then you need to produce "x"% here and build that into your global cost structure. This would likely create a virtuous circle of vendors, suppliers, etc. around the production. Even at 10 or 15% minimum of every individual corporations total imports to the US, this would force corporations to select the least labor intensive, repeatable, and mechanized production. Find innovative ways to get this done.

No doubt, there will be trade war fights and retribution - but bottomline is due to our present massive trade imbalance, they need us more than we they (coupled w/ fact China is backing off from our T's anyway)...seems time is ripe to begin rebuilding for a day when centralized global production based on cheap fuel is over.

Instead we've listened to "free marketeers" who have structured the game so corporations can reap the greatest short term profit but the small downside to this has been to destroy nations economies over the long haul.

Corporations aren't evil, they are just playing by the rules and to the expectations of their shareholders. Change the rules and corporations will adapt. Somebody has to look out for the best interests of our nation as their is no "efficient global market" except short termism which will lead us to ruin...don't expect corporations to do what is best for nations from the goodness of their hearts, make it part of the cost of doing business.

FYI - Ready for "junkage" and hoping to stimulate constructive conversation. Also, point of clarification, I'm not talking about TBTF banks and elite of the world...that is a whole other discussion. I'm talking about real companies that make real products / services.

Article in my local paper today (probably off a wire service since there likely aren't many reporters left in town) about GE transferring high-tech products for China to manufacture planes and engines - instead of Boeing. The GE VP said something like "if we don't do it, we'll be left on the sidelines, we don't want to be on the sidelines". Emblematic of the corporate mindset.

I would add to your commentary, these Corporations also basicly are white collar welfare states in their own right. There is so much overhead burden of Manager level and above and all the support staff and infrastructure (office space, etc) which they require, that they are net negative jobs creators and only marginally profitable at the bottom line.

"It is time we reissue the currency, tie it temporarily and loosely to gold"

the 'tie' will be maintained by banksters and they will manipulate the tie the same way they manipulate everything else

once confidence in fiat currency is lost, confidence won't be restored with another fiat currency - ie, anything that is "tied loosely to gold"

the only way to restore confidence is to restore an honest monetary system and that means the circulating currency (whatever it is) must be fully convertible to some tangible good

it doesn't matter what the tangible good is but 5000 years of history show that humans choose gold when given the choice

the banksters are going to try any number of fallback schemes as the fiat currency collapse continues

the first is likely to be some form of SDR issued by the BIS or IMF but this is just another fiat currency - the only thing that changes is who issues the worthless piece of paper

another scheme is likely to tie a fiat currency against some basket of tangibles goods - petroleum and gold will probably be in that basket - but again, this is just another form of fiat currency and there will be regulators and bankers controlling and manipulating the 'tie' to the basket of goods

the only way to have honest money is to either circulate a tangible good that humans agree have value (precious metals seem to be the first choice of intelligent humans) or to implement a paper monetary system where the paper is fully convertible to some tangible good (silver and gold have stood the test of time)

Sure! My problem with gold is the same unethical monsters that caused this catastrophe will be holding all the gold. Game starts over and the same slime will still be in control. Gold=same game. I wonder what the 43 million people on food stamps hold collectively in gold? greater, or less than Soros?

lol, the U.S. is doing like the Arab leaders right now, showering the slaves with bread and circuses. Cept the U.S. is getting more than just Food stamps they are pumping up the stock market. This does not address the fact that our "leaders" are BLATANTLY LYING 24/7 365 years a day though. Trickle down was shit even when nobody knew we had an unlimited budget, but this panic fear driven QE is CONCENTRATING WEALTH 10x faster.

You don't think that will have repercussions in the near and long term? Especially with that peoples united Supreme court decision and the upcoming media merger.

Oh, and next time you see a uniformed soldier, give a minute of your time to thank them for defending ABSOLUTELY JACK, AND SHIT, cept for their buddies asses who are the same thing. MERCS FIGHTING UNEMPLOYMENT AT THE ASS END OF THE EARTH.

"The establishment is not going to do what is in the best interest of the American consumer"

I just love how you refer to people as "American consumers" instead of American citizens. When I read statements like that it doesn't surprise me at all to see this entire country going to hell in a handbag.

Like it or not. That's what you are. There used to be citizens a long time ago, who made purchases according to needs. As any red blooded industrialist knows, you aren't going to make bundles of cash by supplying long lasting products to people who only buy something when they need it and then only buy another when the original can't be repaired anymore.

I think the manufacture of wants was pioneered by Edward Bernays.

Now there is no growth without consumers. Over production to supply the manufactured wants and desires of consumers who obtain credit to over consume.

Please do something! Virginia has already begun to study the use of gold and silver as money. We don't need the FED in Texas. Oil production is like making money (free from debt that is). We are supporting the entire country, and even the UN on our backs. Texas could be so much better off without Federal Reserve Notes. Please get us off the dollar. Please provide us with an alternative - other than debt notes or the Yuan!

Agreed... but the problem is that contrary to popular belief Texas has a bit of totalitarian nepotist streak to it. State laws are written to benefit the "right" families and businesses while the rest of us can suck it. So I doubt that the bozos in Austin will be standing up to anyone any time soon, regardless of pre-election noise coming out of Perry's mouth.

The United States’s political process is broken. A highly organized group controls its media, its financial centers and its military industrial complex. This cabal is able to elect political candidates from either party to do its bidding.

To fight back the people need to identify and support their own political candidates.

Candidates determined to end the fed.

Candidates determined to end the wars.

Candidates that will reestablish trade protection for our workers and our companies.

i just love everyone on ZEROHEDGE .......... you are a bright spot in my day & i'm now so much smarter because of this website. ......... respect & thanks to all of you & i now have some silver in my safe!! even tho i'm still scared at what is to come, i am ready to cope.

Before finding ZH, I thought I was the looney, wondering WTF re govt spending, taxes, casino markets - this is a great group and I also appreciate reading and learning here at the University of ZH - my hat's off to all the professors here, no sarc.

The consumer doesn't want spend anymore, so the "economy" will have to beat it out of the consumer thru increasingly expensive necessities. Under the bus? If consumers won't spend, what the hell good are they?

They will come back once the government is so broke that there is no choice but to make the welfare class work for their bread and soup. Cheap servants for the upper and what is left of the middle class. Just like the other Banana Republics.

The one blaring point that is forgotten is the fat, lazy something for nothing mentality that keeps the goons in power. How many complained when the banks were offering "free" money? How many complained when Medicare-D was put in place? How many Americans take government services, pensions and entitlements for granted but then are unwilling to pay the required taxes to support it? This train wreck has been building for decades. It is a reflection of a weak and degenerate society. You don't always get what you want, but you do get what you deserve.

well, sir, I agree mostly...except the very last. I respectfully disagree that the fuckin' banksters "deserve" their fuckin' salaries, let alone their fuckin' bonuses. There's very little justice in "this world". Here's hoping that cosmic justice tips the scales & gives the great unwashed the opposite of what they "deserve" for a change...in spades.

Why shouldnt they laugh? No one would have listened or they would have blamed the messenger a la greenspan's irrational exuberance comment. If the fed had tried to pop the bubble they would have been blamed.for that too. They knew the would be blamed.for causing a bubble or causing a recession. When you are dealing with a retarded congress and populace gallows humor is the only way to deal with it. They are sending us a message now that we could not have received back then.

Tell me again why there is not "storming of the bastille" moment with that corrupt putrid and pus filled entity-FEDERAL RESERVE????

Why are these people not drawn and quartered, for real? THEY KNEW, and THEY LAUGHED ABOUT IT AND TOLD NO ONE??? DID NOTHING TO STOP IT OR PREPARE THE POPULATION OR WARN INVESTORS??? WHAT DO THEY HAVE A FUCKING JOB FOR?????

And STILL THEY DRAW BREATH???

Are these Federal Reserve types just careless, stupid" OBviously they have no pride. self-esteem, and no ethics, otherwise they would've "offed themselves" to "ease their own troubled souls.

"You can put two or more consumers together and create an economy but remove the consumers from an economy and you are left with nothing."

Sorry, Mr. Okst, but you're just another Keynesian fucknut. The truth is:

"You can put two or more producers together and create an economy but remove the producers from an economy and you are left with nothing."

I bake (produce) two loaves of bread, consume one, and offer the other in exchange for something else I need -- say, eggs that my neighbor's chickens produce beyond those he and his family need. But we have to produce before we can consume either, whether it's for our ownconsumption or others' -- i.e., whether it's consumption goods or capital goods.

United we thrive? No. United we all go to the same destination and it ain't looking good. The globalists will go to their bunkers and Paraguay spreads while we get hit from all angles. They will get their population cull one way or another.

"If the Fed wasn’t monetizing debt the US would be where it should be - in bankruptcy reorganization."

Clueless.

US govt was put in bankruptcy reorg circa 1920 and the reorg has been working well, creditor bankers have been steadily looting America's assets ever since, slow iquidation, not fast liquidation like you'd typically see in bankruptcy.

To maintain the present hegemony of parasitism, the World Orderprogram for the future, as drawn up by the foundations, is as follows : Smallwars from 1985 to 1990. Global war from 1990-2000. The gradualannihilation of the populations of the United States, Canada and WesternEurope. The reduction of world population from the present 4.85 billion to 1billion, the number it had attained in 1800, solving the disastrous pollution ofair and water and the exhaustion of natural resources. After the“readjustment”, as the Five Masters term their program of extermination, theworld’s predominant race will be the Chinese, 500 million. The African tribeswill be heavily armed, and allowed to settle their ancient tribal rivalries,resulting in their almost complete extinction with conventional weapons. Thefew survivors will be allowed to revert to their primitive conditions, which willreduce their numbers even further. The Five masters will then be able toreturn to the “open continent” which had been enjoyed by King Leopold andthe Rothschilds in the 1880s, allowing them to renew their profitable trade incopper, ivory and slaves.

There is no economic recovery nor is there likely to be because the blame for causing the financial crises is to be shared by all the parties involved.

Individuals kept on spending even in face of declining incomes by using the cheap and easily available loans handed over to them by the bankers.

The bankers kept on lending to the individuals, who they knew would never be able to repay their loans, because they were getting commission and charging exorbitant interest on the loans. Moreover they were able to sell the poor loans (after getting them fraudently rated as AAA) to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The bankers also sold these toxic products to the pension funds and fixed income investors for commissions knowing very well they will go down in value when the borrowers default. The bankers were confident that the government would route tax payers collections to them in case of any mishap as they had become too big to fail and controlled the politicians, rule-makers and the rule enforcers.

The politician­­s around the world are nothing more than auction items which can be sold to the highest bidder. They will do whatever they can for the lobbyist paying them the maximum amount of money or votes, be it the unions, the banksters, the richest corporatio­­ns or individual­­s. They are in the power seat to extract maximum advantage for themselves in the small time frame they occupy the seat of power.

The rest of the population is least of their concerns. The only activity they do is pacify the majority of the population using false statistics and promises of a better future so that they do not lynch them and their masters while they are robbing the taxpayers.

I get up in the morning and greet the sun, which rises every day. Some days are better than others.

I like when it rains. I collect the precious water in my rain barrel for another day, because the rain helps the plants grow healthy and they will soon sprout their fruit. My bees come in the Spring and I know that, if I treat them right and give them a good home, they will stay - or, not. I hope they do, because the honey they will share with me is wealth beyond gold. I won't be greedy and take it all, but I will take my rent from these hard-workers and honor them for their contribution.

I have cats, who control the vermin, and I allow patches on my acre of land to grow as they will. I try not to interfere too greatly with that which desires to live and grow, while carefully crafting my own space to be.

At the end of the day, I thank nature for its abundance, my family for their love, my friends for their companionship and support, and I lay my head down to rest.

I get up in the morning and greet the sun, which rises every day - some days are better than others.

Ben Bernanke and the stock market and those people consumed by desires for more and even more seem to come from another world. If they choose to involve me in their games, I think they would regret it. They appear to have much to lose, while I can be denied nothing.

Low and lower wages. No unions. No safety nets. No benefits. No minimum wage law. No food stamps. No medicare. No soc.security. No property rights. No tax(es) on corporate profits. A Federal sales tax (vat) of 12%. All Gov revenue to come from taxes on your labor, just one paycheck away from destitution and too exhausted to protest (anything). The fuckers are going for the kill.

Yes, they toss the consumer uder the bus. But fer f*&k's sake, what else can they do? Let's look at this From THEIR point of view for once, and have some compassion!

These guys, and the rest of the banking fraternity, (er, sidulating club), have made so much money lending money, that they can't stop now. The article used the addiction analogy, so, let's think of this as a pusher with a static umber of addict customers, but an insane desire to make ever more money. So, he sells the addicts more and more heroin. As the addicts OD, oe by one, he has to sell even MORE heroin to the remaining addicts, in order to keep his profit margins up. Eventually, there will be no more addicts, and thus, o more market for his heroin, but the pusher is trapped in his own death-spiral, and can't do aything else.

If we had a free-market, we would have all been riding freight trains and standing in bread-lines fro three years now. The Depression would last at least ten years, but at least at this point we would have three as time-served. We are all secretly glad we aren't in a boxcar- that we get to sit in our warm, underwater houses and write witty comments on the ZeroHedge wall. But as we all know, at this point, because of the Fed's delaying actions, we are on Death Row. There is no time-served. When the debt-spiral guards come for us, it will be for a one-way trip to the end-of-civilization Chair.